At 10.00 pm on January 8 in a storm of protest from Christian fundamentalists in the UK, the West End hit “Jerry Springer – the Opera” was broadcast on BBC2, That is the BBC’s analog “minority” channel used for experimental programs and arts shows.
The protests were whipped up in advance by a group of Christian fundamentalist known as “MediawatchUK”. This originated as the “National Viewers and Listeners’ Association” (NVLA) in the 70s.
Now OfCOM, the UK equivalent of the F.C.C. has ruled that the show did not breach broadcasting guidelines. Ironically for MediawatchUK the controvesy the raised beforehand increased the audience for an opera on Saturday nights. The adjudication has some impressive language.
A bit of background. Jerry Springer – the Opera is very loosely based on the original show. The BBC recorded the stage production in the theatre. Almost entirely sung, most of the spoken dialog is from “Jerry” played by David Soul. At the end of the “television” show Jerry is shot and blacks out. The second half is a dream sequence in which Jerry descends into Hell. The Devil demands he stages one of his shows to reconcile himself with God. Actors playing the disfunctional family in part one reappeat as God, Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the second.
There is a lot of swearing tho not as much as orginally claimed by MediawatchUK. To get near the numbers they quoted you would have to count every member of the chorus singining in unison as a separate instance of swearing. The controvery was fanned by claims that the rather tubby actor who plays a guy who gets his kicks from wearing a nappy and playing baby in Act1 re-appears as Jesus in Act II. The costume is dufferent and clearly a silky loincloth. This did not stock the fundies claiming the show depicted “Jesus in a nappy”.
I should explain that British TV has a 9 pm “watershed” after which more violent or sexually explicit scenes can be shown, the later the “stonger” but within certain limits. Broadcasters are expected to warn audiences of any potentially upsetting material by and announcement before the show starts. The the case of Jerry Springer, there was further one between the two acts putting the second half into context.
Unusually OfCOM received 210 comments in favour of the show. The organised campaign sent in a record 8860 complaints. 1747 letters or phone calls went in but of the 7113 emails, 4264 were from “Premier Media Group” (a cover for MediawatchUK) or their supporters too dim to rewrite the round robin as if it were their own.
OfCOM’s highest authorities reviewed the programme against the broadcasting code. The decision in .pdf format shown how they went about it.
In assessing these complaints, and in line with our statutory duties, Ofcom has
sought to achieve the appropriate balance between, on the one hand, the standards
set in the Code (ex-BSC Code on Standards) and the need to apply those standards
to give adequate protection from harmful and offensive material, and on the other
hand the need to guarantee an appropriate level of freedom of expression. Freedom
of expression is particularly important in the context of artistic works, beliefs,
philosophy and argument.
MeadiawatchUK’s goose is thoroughly cooked by the time you get to:
In considering freedom of expression, Ofcom recognises
the UK’s long standing tradition of satirising political and religious figures and
celebrities. Ofcom must consider each programme on its merits.
Any possible breach of the Code is looked at and the complaints dismissed. The only possibility for MeadiawatchUK’s small band of activists is to fund a private prosecution for Blasphemy which is just about still law.
